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Followup To
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Followup To
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Hello. Recently (last Friday) my brother was involved in a fender bender. He was turning left on green (the filter light was not on) and there was no incoming traffic (we live in Florida). He states that as he was making the turn, a car on the opposite side sped up and make a right, thus causing the cars to collide. The police report stated that no-one was at fault, and the insurance companies now want to decide who was at fault. Can insurance companies do this as the police already said no-one was at fault, and if so how do they go about it.
One more quick question, will our premiums rise if we had to pay anything to the other car?
Answer -
I'm confused... what do you mean by filter light?
Was the other car traveling on the same road/street as your brother and in the opposite direction or was the other car traveling on the intersecting street... if so.. from your brother's right or left?
What were the points of impact on both cars?
The police's determination(s) are NOT BINDING on the insurance company...it is simply one piece in the total picture.
IF the insurance company makes a payment to the other party then the likelihood is that the next policy renewal's premium will have an increase/surcharge attached.
Get back to me with answers to my questions.
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Thanks
FOLLOW UP
Sorry if i did not make it clear. The filter light is the green arrow that allows the car to turn left at the intersection whilst all other cars are stopped. When that light is not on, you must give way to on coming traffic when wanting to turn left at an intersection.
The cars were coming at each other in the opposite direction. The other car was to my brothers left in the opposite direction and turning right, my brother was wanting to come across the intersection and turn left. I hope that is clearer. The impact on my brothers' vehicle was on the front right side just by the headlight, the other partys' impact was on his left door.
Thanks for your time
Chris
Answer -
For starters there is NO such thing as an accident that is no one's fault.. if that were the case then there wouldn't have been an accident in the first place.
As both vehicle were turning on green lights they would both have right of way....
Do we know who entered the intersection and started their turn first.. that might be a key point.
Whose side of the road (center line)did the accident/impact occur?
The points of impact are NOT helpful to your brother as it appears as though he struck the other car and not visa versa.
Right now I'm see this accident as approx 60-65%+ your brother's fault and 35-40% the other car's fault BUT that can change based on the points I've raised above.
Get back to me on those points and well wrap this up...
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Thanks
FOLLOW UP II
FIrst off I just want to say thankyou for your help so far, I am really grateful. OK I spoke to my brother and raised the questions you had and he said the following.
He says he was moving first to make the left turn. As he was about 75% through making the turn, that is when the other car decided to turn right. I also asked him again where he hit the car, and he said the point of impact was by the hinges of the left front car door.
As for what side of the center line the impact occured, he said that the other vehicle was over the center line in my brothers lane which is why the impact occured. He claims the car did not turn tight enough into his own lane which caused him to enter brothers' lane slighty.
Thankyou again for your help
Chris
AnswerOK.. Now I've got it....
This is a near classic 50/50 because I can see where BOTH driver's contributed to this loss.
Given what you last told me and assuming that it's verifiable then I would say the other driver was a tad more (55-60%) at fault then your brother (40-45%). Your brother's biggest hurdle, if he is to collect, will be the points of impact as they are not favorable.
You need to determine what basic negligence laws are in place/play in your State....
If your State is one of the few Contributory Negligence states left then ANY contributiopn (fault) on the part of your brother (even 1%) will bar him from ANY recovery against the other party.
If the State is a Comparative Negligence State then you need to determine what FORM of comnparative. If the State is a PURE COMPARATIVE form state then your brother should be able to recover that % of his damage(s) equal to the other party's % of fault... all the way down (theoretically) to 1% (that's why it's called PURE). Conversely, the other party would be able to recover that % of his damage(s) equal to your brother's % of fault...
If the State has the other form of Comparative (I forgot what it's called) then your brother should be able to recover that % of the other party's % of fault as long as your brother's own fault does not EXCEED 50%.. Let's say the final determination is the other party 55%... your brother 45%... in that scenario your brother gets 55% of his damages and the other party gets nothing.
Hope and trust that the above answers your questions.
Feel free to get back to me with any further questions/issues relative to this matter.
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